THE TOP TEN TELEVISION SHOWS OF 2012

2012 gave us another outstanding year in television. This won't be the most detailed list going around, as I'm writing in more detail about most of these shows in my 2012 highlights posts. But for those of you that love a list (and I like to call you my people), here are the best shows of 2012.

10. GAME OF THRONES

Not as surprising or consistent a season as the first, but still one of the most lavishly entertaining shows on television. You get the sense that Season Three is going to blow the roof off the place.

9. LOUIE

I have never been much of a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, which is why I'm so glad Louie exists. Even with Louis CK's downbeat style, there's something about Louie that makes it almost addictive to watch, which is never how I felt about Curb. The man's a genius.

8. BOSS

Probably the most unpopular show on my list (or any list), Boss was ambitious, dark, cynical and often abrasively effective. Storytelling kinks caused it to be maddeningly inconsistent and the lack of a single character we could relate to made it difficult to watch, but boy, did Boss have its moments. A tie with Luck the most squandered potential of 2012.

7. NEW GIRL

For the first half of New Girl's first season, I kept finishing episodes thinking 'Well, that should really have been a lot better than it was'. I stuck with it through its kink-ironing phase and it improved steadily right through the first season, while never really being the comedy you would expect from all the talent involved. Then Season Two started and New Girl  became the second-best comedy on television. The entire cast started gelling, the writing became sharper and the voice of lead character Jess became clearer. It's a beauty.

6. THE GOOD WIFE

My favourite show that nobody else my age has even watched, let alone likes. I will continue to stand up for The Good Wife's fantastic combination of episodic legal drama and political intrigue, all while hiring the best guest actors in television.

5. BREAKING BAD

Breaking Bad is amazing. The only reason it occupies the number five position is because every show from here on in is amazing, and it just becomes a matter of which ones I look forward to watching the most. Breaking Bad loses that battle by the slightest of margins. It's so good, though. You should be watching it.

4. MAD MEN

If Man Men's latest season wasn't its finest (and there are plenty of people who will argue that it was), it at the very least featured two or three of the series' finest moments to date. I won't spoil them here, but Mad Men continues to be one of the stand-out television shows of all time.

3. HOMELAND

I've written about Homeland in more detail here - but it is the tensest, ballsiest, best-acted thriller on American television. Gold from start to finish.

2. PARKS AND RECREATION

It's been four years, and I'm still explaining to people how Parks and Recreation's first season is in no way reflective of the all-time classic seasons of television that follow. Parks and Recreation has been the best comedy on TV for a long, long time. Even better, it's the kind of show that will never fail to put a smile on your face.

1. SHERLOCK

Of all the great shows on television at the moment, I am never as excited to watch an episode of television as when I sit down to watch a new episode of Sherlock. In the end, you have to put the shows you love at number one. I love Sherlock. Simple as that.